The Sun. — London, England, 1808-10-10 00:00:00

fire received trom the Rayal Tather e assnring his M e iesty that he never had the slightest information of the circumstances which he communicated re- . spcaine his eon t.ths Prince of Asturias;' ter:ever 're ceived any - letter from - hiS Royal. Highness. (2.) Nevertheless his Majesty consented to the proposed iivertrefrriage with a Princess of his family, un doubtedly with an intention of amusing the Royal Parents ; whilst he was sending into Spain, under various pretexts, all the troops which. hehad then disposable, and.. was studiously propagating an idea that he was favourable to the cause of the Prince of Asturias, and thus endeatouring to captivate the good opinion of the Spanish nation. " The Royal Parents, struck with the te rr o r which this condua of the Emperor naturally inspir ed, and the - Favourite being still more astonished, Opposed no obstacle to' the entrance of .the - French troops into the peninsula ' on the contrary, they gave" the most effeaual orders that they should be receise d and treated even on a better footing than the Spanish troops. • " The Emperor, under the pretence of consulting the security of these troops, ordered his Generals, by stratagem or force, to get possession of tree fortresses of Painpeluna, St. Sebastian, Figuieras, and Barce lona, which alone could present any obstacle to an trn asion. They were accordingly taken by fraud and surprise, to the ine.;;;nation and sorrow of the whole nation, to which the French still affe&ed to profess friendship_ and alliance.. " The Emperor, conceiving himself already mas ter of all Spain, and thinking the time had arrived for -accelerating his measores, thought proper to %%rite et letter to the Royal Father, complaining, in the bitterest-terms, that his Majesty had not renewed hiS application for an Imperial Princess for his son, the Prince of Asturias. The King was pleased to return !or answer, that he adhered to his former -proposal, and was Willing that the marriage should immediately take place. Some important proceeding was still necessary to Carry the project to a proper degree of maturity; and the Emperor, not -tsliling to trust into writing, tenught he couid not find a better Instrument than Don' Eugenio Isquierdo, whom he had -detained in Pails-in a state of great dejeaion and terror, that had been artfully impressed upoo him for the purpose of his wore effeaually executing his commission, by ineeressing the Royal Parents and the Favourite with -the same feelings. • • "In this state of things, the Emperor ordered -Isquierdo 'To repair to Spain, which - he accordingly did, in a very precipitate and mysterious mermere • According to his verbal statements, lie brought • no 'proposal in writing with him, nor was he to receive any, ars' he had orders to remain 'only three days. On his arrival, under these circumstances, at - skranjuez, the Favourite conducted hinetei7the=pre sence- of the Royal Parent's, and their 'conferettees. were concluded with so much secrecye-'-that it Was: impossible for any one to discover the 4Shject of his mission ; but soon after his departure from this capital, their Majesties began to shew a dispositina to abandon the Metropolis and the Peninsula, and to emigrate to Mexico. • " The recent example of the determination taken by the Royal Family.of Portugal, seemed to have Tully corresponded with theviews of the Emperor, and there is reason to think that his Imperial Ma jesty promised himself a simileisuccees in Spain. " Rut be must have been very ignorant of the Spanish character to flatter himself with such expece tations. Scarcely had the first reports gone abroad of the intentions 'of the Royal Family to abandon their residency--a resolution clearly indicated by the many preparations which were going on—than discontent and fear were depicted, in the most lively colours, in the. features of all the inhabitants of the capital, and of all ranks and classes of persons. ThiS skw was' sufficient to induce their Majesties to refine the rumour, and to assure the people that they would not abandon them. " tiTeverthelese, such was the general distrust, s eel the magnitude of the evils which must have re eultsd, and such and so many the symptoms,of a de termination to. emigrate, that every one was on the alert, and all seemed to be impressed with the ne cessity of preventing a measure pregnant with so many mischiefs. The danger increased, and the fears of the public kept pace with it. The conse quence was; that the cotnmotions of Aranjuez, on the 17th and 19th of March, burst forth like a sud den explosion ; the people being led,by a sort of stioet :ot self-preservation. The result was, the im prisooment of the Favourite, who, without the title of King, had exercised all the functions of Royalty. " Scarcely had this tempestuous scene taken place, whea the Royal Parents, finding themselves deprived of the support of their Favourite, _took the unex p:aed bat voluntary resolution c which they had for some time entertained to abdicate their Throne, as thev accordingly did in favour of their son and heir, the Prince of Asturias. • _ _ " The Emperor, ignorant of this sudden evenr, and, perhaps, never .supposing that the Spaniards were ,7-ipabic of displaying such resolution, had order ed Prince Murat to advance with his army towards 11adrid, under the idea that the Royal Family were alr,'ady on the coast, and on the point of embarking, and that tar frond meeting the slightest obstacle on tile part of the people, ail of them would receive liirn with open arms, as their. deliverer and guardian n of el. He. conceived, that the nation was in the 16,;Lr.sst , degri.e dissatisfied with their Government, 'lever reflected that they were only dissatisfied with the abuses that had crept into the administra- lion - of it. The instant the Grand Duke of Berg was ap pti7od of the occurretvces at Aranjuez, he-advanced with his whole army to occupy the capital-of the kitgdom, intending, no'doubt, to• profit by the oc 7 tasittn, and to take such steps as should be best cal c9lated. to realize, by any means, the plan of making himself waster of Spain... ' " ,In the mean while, the mysterious obscurity of the Emperor's projects, the proximity di his troops, and the ignorance in which Ferdinand VII. was of the real oojed of the Emperor's approach, induced the King to adopt such measures as appeared to his NlAjesty best calcubted, to conciliate the good will of ) All this appears from the Correspondence of the Fa vourite with the Grand Duke, which the latter carried off' from the (Alice of the Secretary of State during his Licute- Pmtcy„ - - - (1) Compare this statement with the contents of the-letter, (No, 3) from his Imperial Majesty to King Ferdinand, in which :le acknowledges having received the letter wiitten to hin t b•‘. the Prince of Asturias, on the suggestion-Of ArtilmS sadof - the Emperor. Not satisfi,.a wit!, haviti r o mmulni,, coed his accession to the throne in the mast ilielldiy and afOionate terms; the Kitig appointed a deputa tion oi three Grandees of. Spain to proceed to Bayonne, , and in his name to compliment his Imperial Majesty. He also appointed another Grandee,ol Spain to pay a similar compliment to the Grand . . Duke of B e rg, who had already arrived in the vicinity of Madrid. " One of the conttivances which' the French agent• immediately had recourse to, was to assure_ the Bing, and to spread the rumour in all quarter s, that hist Imperial Majesty's arrival might be expeCted every moment. Under this impression, the necessary or, ders were given for preparing apartments in the Pa lace suitable to the dignity of august a guest; and the King wrote again to the Emperor, Thaw agree able it would be to him to be personally acquainted with his Majesty, and to,assure him with' his own 1 lips of his ardent wishes to strengthen more and more' the alliance which subsisted between the two Sovereigns. The Grand Duke of Berg had in the mean time entered Madrid, at the head of his troops. He was no sooner acquainted with the state of affairs, titan he began to sciw discord. _ He spoke in a mysterious manner of the abdication of the Crown, executed by the Royal Father in favour of his son, amidst'the tumults of Aranjuez, and crave it to be understood, that until the Emperor had acknowledged Ferdinand VII. it was impossible for him to take any step that should. appear like an acknowledgment, and that he. must be under the necessity of treating only with the Royal Father. ‘‘ The pretext did not fail to produce the eabet which the Grand Duke intended. The Royal Pa- rents, the moment the' were informed of this cir cumstance, availed themselves of it to save the Fa- I vourite, who remained in confinement, and in whose safety Prince Murat professed to . take an interest, for the sole purpose of flattering sowing fresh matter of discord between the Parents and the Son. " In this state of filings, the new King made his public entry into Madrid, without any other parade than the most numerous concourse of all the inha bitants of the capital and its environs, the strongest expressions of love and loyalty, and the applauses and acclamations which sprung from the joy and en thusiasm of his Subje6ls--a scene truly grand and impressive,, in which the young King was seen like a lather in the midst of, his children, entering his capital as the regenerator and guardian angel of the Alonarchy. " The Ddke of Ber g was.an eye-witness of this scene ; but far from abandoning his plan, he tesolv ed to persist in it with greater ardour. The experi-. ment upon the Royal Parents produced the desired effect 5 bUt whilst the beloved King, who came to the throne under such good auspices, continued to be present, it was. impossible to carry the plan into execution. It was, therefore,. necessary to make every effort to remove Ferdinand Vii from. Ma, drid. " To accompli4h this purpose, the Grand. Duke every moment spread reporteof. the arrival of.a fresh courier', with accounts of the Emperor's -departure from Paris, and that he might he speedily expected to arrive in this capital. He direded his. effortein the first instance to , induce the Infant Don Carlos to set off to receive hielmPerial Majesty, upon the suppo , sition that his Hiehness must' meet him befthe he had proceeded two days upon his iourney. }lts Majesty acceded to the proposal, being influenced. by the purest and'most beneficent intentions. He had, no sooner succeeded in procuring the departure of the Infant, than he manifested the most anxious de • sire that the King should do the same, leaving no •means untried to persuade. his Majesty to take thi4 step, and assuring him that it would be attended by the most happy consequences to the King and .the whole kingdom. " At the same time that the Grand Duke of Berg, the Ambassador, and all the other agents. of France were proceeding, in this course, they were, on the other side, busily employed with the. Royal Parents to procure from them a formal protest against the abdication of the Crown, which they had executed spontaneously and With the accustomed solemnities, in favour of their sots and legitimate heir. " His Majesty being 'incessantly urged to go to meet the Emperor, painfully hesitated between' the `necessity of performing an at of courtesy to his ally, which be was assured would be.attended with such advantageous results, and his reluctance to abandon his loyal 'and beloved people under such critical cir cumstances. " In this embarrassing situation, I can assert, that my constant opinion, as the King's Minister, was, that his Majesty should not..leave his Capital until he received certain information that the .Emperor was already arrived in Spain, and was approaching Madrid ; and that even then, he should only pro ceed to a distance so short as not to render it neces sary to sleep one night out of his Capital. " Majesty for some days persisted in the re solution of not quitting Madrid until he received certain advice of the Emperor's approach ; and he would have probably continued in that -determina tion, had not the arrival of General Savary added greater weight to the reiterated solicitations of the rand puke and the Ambassador Beauharnois. " General Savary was announced as Envoy from the Emperor, and in that capacity dewanded an au, dience from his Majesty, which was immediately granted. At this audience he professed that he was by the Emperor merely to compliment his Ma ! jesty, and to know whether his sentiments with re sped to France were conformable to those of the King his father, in which case the Emperor would forego all consideration vf what had passed, would in no degree interfere in the internal concerns of the kingdom, and would immediately recognise his Ma jesty as King of Spain and the Indies. " The most satisfactory answer was given to Ge neral Savary; and the conversation was continued in terms so flattering, that nothing more could have . been desired. The audience terminated with an assurance upon his part, that the Emperor had already lett Paris, that be was - near Bayonne,- and on his way to Madrid. " Scarcely bad he left the Audience Chamber, When he began to make the most urgent applications, to induce his Majesty to meet the Emperor, assuring him that this attention Would be very grateful and flattering to his Imperial Majesty ; and he asserted, so repeatedly, and in such pdsiiive terms, that the Emperor's arrival might be eepeded every moment, I that it was impossible not ti give credit to his, ac.sertions. It was in iaa very hard to suspect that a General, the Envoy of an Emperor, should have come merely for the purpose of deception. The King at length yielded to so many solicita-, tions,.and so many flattering hopes and assurances and his love of his subjeets, and ardent desire to con t ribute to their, happiness, by putting an end to this dreadful crisis, triumphed in his generous heart over every feeling of repugnance and apprehension. The day appointed for his Majesty's departure arrived. General Savary, affecting the most zealous and assiduous attention to his Majesty, solicited the honour of accompanying him on his jourhey, which; at the farthest, could only extend to Burgos, ac cording to the information which he had just re ceived 'of the Emperor's approach. During his absence, supposed to be only for a few days, the King left at Madrid a Supreme Junta of Government, consisting of the Secretaries of Stag, and presided, over by his uncle, the most Serene In fant Dou Antonio, in order that the urgent affairs of the Government should be attended to. " General Savary followed him to Burgos, in a separate carriage; 'but the Emperor not having ar rived there, he used every exertion to induce his Majesty to continue his journey as far as Vittoria. Various discussions arose as to the course which . ought to be pursued; but artifice and perfidy con tended with honour, innocence, and good faith ; and, in so unequal a strife, the same benevolent in tentions which drew his Majesty from his capital urged him to proceed to Vittoria. " General Savary, convinced that his Majeity had resolved to proceed no farther, Continued his journey to Bayonne with the intention undoubtedly of ac quainting the Emperor with all that had passed, and of procuring a letter from him which should deter mioe the King to separate himself from his people. " At Vittoria hiS Majesty received information that the Emperor arrived at Bourdeaux, and was on his way to Bayonne. In consequence of this advice, The Infant Don Carlos,w ho had been waiting at Tolosa,proceeded on to Bayonne, whither he' had been invited' by the Emperor, who, however, delayed his arrival some days longer., " Nothing particular ocehritd at Vittoria, except that the Supreme Junta of Govertmient at Madrid having written that the Grand Duke of Berg' had imperiously demanded that the Favourite should be releaSed and placed in his hands, his Majesty did not ,think proper to comply with this demand; and in communicating this determination to the Junta of Government, enjoined them to enter into no explar nations with the Grand Duke respe&ing the fate of the prisoner (3). In'the .mean time, General Savary concerted, with the Empetor ill, what manner they should pre :pare to give the finishing blow; and while the French, ' troops in the vicinity of Vittoria were making suspi cious movements, he made his appearance in 'that city, with the letter No. 4, to his Majesty from the Emperor. " To the contents of this letter which were nei .•ther flattering nor decorous, General Savary added so many and sech vehement protestations of the interest which the Emperor took in the welfare of his Ma r jesty, and of Spain, that he even, went so far as to say, .1 will Sutler my head to be cut off, if within a quarter of an hour of your Majesty's arrival at Bayonne, The Emperor shall not haVe recognized you as King of Spain and the Indies. To support his own Consistency, he will probably begin by giving you the title of Highness, but itt live minutes he will give you that of Majesty, and in three days every thing will be settled, and your Majesty may return to Spain immediately.' " His Majesty, however, hesitated as to the course which he should take ; but anxious to redeem the pledge which he had given, and, above all, to relieire his beloved subje6is from the cruel anxiety in which they were, he banished from his heart every appre hension of danger, and shut his ears against 'my councils, and those of other persons in his train, as well as to the supplications of that loyal city, and.de termined to proceed to Bayonne ; his Royal mind being incapable of suspe6ting that a Sovereign, his Ally, should invite him as a guest, -for the purpose of making him a prisoner, and of putting an end to a dynastY, - which, so fat' from !toying Offended him, had given him so many striking proofs of its friend ship. ‘ Scarcely had his Majesty set foot on the French territory, when he remarked that no one came to receive him, until at his arrival at St. Jean de riz, the Mayor made his appearance, - attended by. the Municipality. The carriage stopped, and lie ad dressed his Majesty with the most lively expressions of joy he felt at hating the honour of being the first to receive a King, who was the friend and ally of France. ' " Shortly after, he was met by the deputation of the three Grandees of Spain, who had been sent off to meet the Emperor; and their representation, with respeet, to the intentions of the Emperor, was not the most flattering. He was, however, now too near Bayohne to think of changing his course, and he therefore continued his journey. " There came oat to meet the King, the Prince of Neufchatel and Duroc, Marshal of the Palace, with a detachment of the Guard of Honour which the citizens of Bayonne had formed to attend the Emperor, and they . invited his Majesty to enter Bayonne, where a place had been prepared for his residence: This residence appeared to all, and was, in reality, hot little suitable to the rank of the au gust guest who was to occupy it. This remarkable and excessive neglect formed a singular contrast with the studied magnificence which the King bad employed in making the preparations at Madrid for the reception of his ally. " His Majesty was doubting what could he the, meaning of a reception that he so little expected, when he was informed that the Emperor was coming to pay him a visit. His Imperial Majesty arrived, accompanied by a number of his Generals. The King went down to the street door to receive him, and both Monarchs embraced each other with every token of friendship and affeaion. The Emperor staid but a short time with His Majesty, and they. embraced each other again at parting. " Soon after, Marshal Duroc came to invite the King to dine with his Imperial Majesty, whose car riages were coming to convey His Majesty to the Palace of Marac : this accordingly took place. The (3) Every body kno*.; that the prisoner was at length de-, livered up to the French, and conducted under an escort by them to Bayonne. This step was Solely owing to 'an order from the I unta of Government yielding to imperious circum stances and the peremptory menaces of the Grand Duke. Emperor came as far. as the coach-steps to receive . , his Majesty, embraced him' again, and led him by - the blind to the apartment provided for him. h - ",Tie King had no sooner returned to his resi ,. dehce, when. General Savary waited on his Majesty To infoi-m hiM that the. Emperor had irrevocably de -IThratilied that the Bourbon dynasty .should no longer reign in Spain ; that it should be succeeded by his; and therefore his Imperial Majesty required that the King should, in his own name and that of all his family, renounce the Crown of Spain and the Indies, in favour of the dynasty of Buonaparte. " It would be .ditficult to describe the surprise with which the Royal mind of his Majesty was af fected, and the consternation with . which all those who were nearest to his person were struck at hear ing of such a proposition. His Majesty was not yet recovered from the fatigues of a toilsome journey, when the same man who had made him so many protestations of security at Madrid and on the road, who had drawn him from his capital and his king dom to Bayonne, on pretence of adjusting matters of the greate - st importance to both States, and of his . being recognized by his Imperial Majesty, had the audacity to IJe the bearer of so scaudalous'a pro posal. . • , On the following day, I was sent for by the Emperor to his Royal Palace, where I found the Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Champagny, waiting to enter upon ' a discussion of the proposals verbally stated by General Savary. I instantly complained of , the perfidy with which so important an affair was proceeded in ; representing that the King, nay Masl. ter, came to Bayonne, relying on the assurances given•by General Savary, in the name of the Empe ror, and in the presence of the Dukes DA Infantado, S. Carlos, D. Juan Escoiquiz, and myself, that his Imperial Majesty would recognize him at the very first interview between the two Sovereigns, in the Imperial Palace of Marac ; that when his Majesty ex petted to witness the realization of this promised recognition, he was surprised with the propositions above alluded to ; and that his Majesty had autho rized me .to protest against the violence done to his person, in not permitting him to return to Spain ; - andas - a categorical and final answer to the'iolicita 'lion of the Emperor, that the King neither would nor could renounce his crown in favour of another dynasty, without being wanting in the duties which he owed to his subjects and to his own charaEter ; that he could not do so in prejudice tolhe indivi duals of his own family, who were caned to the sue- -' cession by the fundamental laws of the Kingdom and much less could he consent to the establishment of another dynasty, which ought alone to be called to the throne by the Spanish Nation, in virtue of their original right to elect another family upon the termination of the present dynasty. - , " The Minister of Foreign Affairs insisted. on the necessity of the renunciation which had been pro posidl, and contended. that the abdication signed by Charles the IV. on the Igth of March, had not been voluntary. " I expressed my surprise that the King should be importuned to renounce his crown, at the same mo anent that it was asserted that 'the renunciation of his father ,was not his free aEt. I wished, however, not to be understood as entering into such at, discus sion, as I could not acknowledge the smallest autho rity in the Emperor to interineddle - with matters,' which were purely domestic, and peculiarly: belongs i r p e g spe :to a the e ex a Spanish nw i e of Government, tlcabtne t f : ll ;:i t' s, I t ' eb - rejected as inadmissible. the applications -of- h w as he i.V n ia it '" jesty, the Royal Father, in favour of his ally,andfirs t cousin the unfortunate Louis XVI. Nevertheless, 'desirous of giving to truth and . innocence a testimony which they alone bad a righs' to exaEt, I added, that three weeks before the dig' turhance acAranjuez, Charles IV. in my presence , and that of all the other Ministers of State, addressed her Majesty the queen, in these words :—,, Maris 'Louisa, we will retire to one of the provinces, wlies4 .we will pass our . days. in , tranquillity ; and Fer d i , nand; who is a young man, will take upon h imsel f Whe - burden of the Government" - " I represented to hiin, that, on the 17th, 18th , and loth,' no violence was done to his Majesty, i (1 order to extort an abdication of his Crown, eith2r by the people, who had risen purely from the apprebe" - sion that his Majesty was going to remove to Sevill e ' and thence to America; or on the part of his sots, the Prince of Asturias, or any other persons ; which faits the Ministers of the Corps Diplom ati s e° as - Well as all the persons about the Court, were 1- em . i convinced, since all of them congratulated and,o°ll of plimented the new Sovereign, with the excePhe had the French Arnbassador, who pretended tha t not been •turnished with the necessary inoroction.s, disregarding the example of his colleagues, N,"° were as little provided with instructions tro al " leir respective courts. " I concluded with proving to him t hat the re nunciation of the Royal Father was on l y the comet. , qiaence of his ,Majesty's predileE tion for t h e trance eility of a private life, and his persuasion that his constitution, enfeebled by age and habitual indisposi?, tion, was incompetent to support the heavy burdeo of the Government." i To be cOnlinued.l —....d MAILS. .ARRIvEn•—« Dublin, t Waterford. Du&—z Gottenbure' Watertbrd. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DA Y AT TWELV B O'CLOCK. Consols - - - 65;1 7 , I Ornniurn . - 2 THE SUN. SWAIM QUIS DICIRS FALSUNI AUDRAT ? LONDON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1808. LETTERS were received in town yesterday frptr' , Oporto, dated the 25th ult. Which state, that th e ' whole of the French troops had embarked, and Oa f ' great preparations were making at Lisbon, and jo' other parts of Portugal, for public rejoicings for tli * delivery of the Country from their French oppressors" So much for the discontent which we were told the' Portuguese felt in consequence of the late Converl", tion The Bishop of Oporto has consented to be", come Member of the Regency, and he had le ft OportOlor Lisbon, in order to asstarne his Office.